Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
December 14, 2012

Hillaby/Turner’s Hall teacher Wynter Pilgrim (fourth left) posing with his winning team: Tanesha Devonish, Gabriela Davis, Faith Branch, Christina Morris and Janae Clarke.
The students of Hillaby/Turner’s Hall Primary School are the winners of this year’s Psychiatric Hospital’s Mental Health Spelling Competition.
This morning the winning team, comprising Tanesha Devonish, Christina Morris, Gabriela Davis, Janea Clarke and Faith Branch, collected their prizes along with second placed Grazettes Primary and third placed West Terrace Primary during a ceremony at the Prince Cave Hall of the District “A” Police Station.
Twenty-eight schools participated in the competition that saw the students having to learn to spell 100 words as well as the meanings all related to mental health.
Some team members from Eagle Hall Primary, Deacons Primary, St. Alban’s, and St. George Primary schools, were presented with trophies.
Coordinator Mitchinson Small told Barbados TODAY that 32 schools were invited to participate. There were five rounds starting with preliminaries and ending with the finals.
He explained the schools were pitted against each other randomly and each round was a knock-out one. He further noted that every year since the competition started in 2008 more schools participated and this year saw 12.
The students were assisted by their teachers and those from the top three schools were each given a prize.
Hillaby’s team told the audience that included representatives of the sponsors, Barbados Public Workers Co-operative Credit Union and RBC Royal Bank, as teachers and parents, and community health officers, about their experience.
They spoke of being scared initially when they saw the words but became more comfortable and confident with each round and were now to identify conditions they learnt.
The event forms part of Mental Health Month activities, which is observed in October.
In addition to the trophies, students from the top three schools received cash vouchers from RBC.
Small said that the finals will be televised tomorrow morning at 11 and repeated on Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. on CBC. (DS)